The invention concerns an ammunition positioner that intercepts an upright ammunition shell, tilts it, and positions it, with an arm mounted on a base, capable of being extended parallel to the plane that the shell stands on, and having a pincher-like pickup with two jaws that pivots parallel to that plane.
Ammunition positioners of this type are employed in particular in combat vehicles, armored howitzers for example, that accommodate a magazine inside and at the center, wherein the shells are stowed upright and perpendicular to the floor. These vehicles also have an automatic shell-introduction mechanism that removes a shell from the magazine, tilts it and orients it parallel with the vehicle, and forwards it to behind the weapon, where it is elevated to the loading position and adjusted to the particular azimuth and elevation of the weapon.
A shell-introduction mechanism that involves an ammunition positioner of the aforesaid type is described for example in the prior U.S. application Ser. No. 320,015 filed Mar. 7, 1989, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Since the arm in an ammunition positioner of this type moves in relation to the base, it is difficult to supply electricity to the mechanisms that operate the pickup and its jaws. If the motors needed to operate these components are mounted on the positioning arm, that is, they will have to be supplied with electricity through suspended cables or sealed-off annular collectors.